Russian Cosmonaut Hits Colleague With Car Weeks After Coming Back to Earth

An official statement from the Russian space agency said that a colleague of Artemyev's accidentally hit him with his car.

Artemyev did not notice a person crossing the road near the Yuri A. Gagarin State Scientific Research-and-TestingCosmonaut Training Center in Star City.

The statement made it clear thatArtemyev was sober.

Anatoly Uronov was the victim. Anatoly Zak, who writes for RussiaSpaceWeb, said that Uronov was a project manager at the training center. According to the statement, Artemyev provided first aid. Uronov was hospitalized in the city of Shchyolkovo with a number of broken bones. The Russian state space corporation has not disclosed any more information about Uronov.

Space.com states that astronauts who are exposed to the microgravity of space for a long period of time need some time to adjust. After six months in space, astronauts struggled with tasks requiring manual dexterity and experienced a striking degradation in the ability to operate a vehicle. Skills and cognitive abilities usually return to normal after landing, according to the study. NASA should have astronauts conduct self-assessments before declaring themselves fit for duty, according to the study.

After nearly six months in space, the 51-year-old Artemyev was able to return to Earth on September 29th. In the past, astronauts have described the descent in Russia's Soyuz capsule as a series of car crashes.

There is no indication that the accident was caused by impairment. This is not the first time Artemyev has had to adjust to Earth's gravity after spending months in space, as he has spent a total of 566 days in the International Space Station.

The cosmonaut is used to high pressure situations. Artemyev had dealt with a spacesuit malfunction while installing a robotic arm on the International Space Station. He was a member of the most recent expedition 66/67 in 2022.

Artemyev has regularly posted notes, pictures, and videos about his space-bound adventures, but he has yet to mention the Monday incident. A regular stream of content updates was kept by the cosmonaut.

There is a possibility that a new space telescope could be launched after the Russian launch was canceled.